How Sardar Patel's legacy thrives in PM Modi's resolute national security initiatives

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, especially on issues concerning national security, are well-documented. Nehru’s passivity on these issues led to conflicts that persisted for many decades. On 7 November, 1950, a month before his death, Patel wrote an exhaustive letter to Nehru detailing the threat from China. The tone and tenor of the letter, whose excerpts are reproduced here, clearly hint at Patel’s disappointment with Nehru regarding his denial of the China danger. “The final action of the Chinese, in my judgment, is little short of perfidy. The tragedy of it is that the Tibetans put faith in us; they choose to be guided by us, and we have been unable to get them out of the meshes of Chinese diplomacy or Chinese malevolence. From the latest position, it appears that we shall not be able to rescue the Dalai Lama. Our Ambassador has been at great pains to find an explanation or justification for Chinese policy and actions. As the External Affairs Ministry remarked in one of their telegrams, there was a lack of firmness and unnecessary apology in one or two representations that he made to the Chinese Government on our behalf. It is impossible to imagine any sensible person believing in the so-called threat to China from Anglo-American machinations in Tibet. Therefore, if the Chinese put faith in this, they must have distrusted us so completely as to have taken us as tools or stooges of Anglo-American diplomacy or strategy. This feeling, if genuinely entertained by the Chinese in spite of your direct approaches to them, indicates that even though we regard ourselves as friends of China, the Chinese do not regard us as their friends…..With the Communist mentality of “whoever is not with them being against them,” this is a significant pointer, of which we have to take due note. During the last several months, outside the Russian camp, we have practically been alone in championing the cause of Chinese entry into UN and in securing from the Americans assurances on the question of Formosa. We have done everything we could to assuage Chinese feelings, to allay its apprehensions and to defend its legitimate claims in our discussions and correspondence with America and Britain and in the UN. In spite of this, China is not convinced about our disinterestedness; it continues to regard us with suspicion and the whole psychology is one, at least outwardly, of scepticism perhaps mixed with a little hostility. I doubt if we can go any further that we have done already to convince China of our good intentions, friendliness and goodwill….” Sardar Patel passed away a month later, but Nehru’s approach to China continued to be one of conscious denialism. Hence, while Nehru was apparently informed of the Tibet-Sinkiang highway built by China passing through POK in March 1958, he acknowledged it in Parliament only in August 1959. The catastrophe of 1962 is best left for another day. However, even until 2014, the UPA government continued to be rather obsequious towards China. During UPA-2, China unleashed some of the worst incursions across our borders. The UPA-2, as a policy, chose to ignore many of these incursions, even informing Parliament that our border infrastructure was consciously not being developed, as it would ‘provoke’ China. How things turned around under Prime Minister Modi One of the primary reasons for our passivity towards China was the lack of infrastructure along our borders. Since 2014, the Modi government has taken major steps that include an increase in the BRO (Border Roads Organisation) budget from Rs 3,782 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 14,387 crore in 2023-24. This is almost an increase of four times. As a result, the total length of border roads constructed between 2014 and 2022 is 6,806 km, a significant increase compared to the 3,810 km built during the 2008-2014 period. Add to this the construction of new air force landing strips in the remote areas of Arunachal Pradesh. What this has effectively meant is that our troops and tanks are able to move much faster to the point of conflict, thus enhancing our alertness significantly as well as our probability of foiling incursions. Despite the Congress party’s claims, there has been a substantial decrease in border incursions over the past nine years and they have been met with robust retaliation. While upgrading our border infrastructure covers just one aspect, India has made dexterous geopolitical moves under Prime Minister Narendra Modi – most of it centred around curbing the expansionist prowess of China. The India Middle East European Corridor, with support from the US and the European Union, is set to have a significant geopolitical and geoeconomic impact, putting pressure on China’s BRI. The African Union’s inclusion in G20 at India’s behest is only going to expand India’s business interests in Africa, at the cost of China. The most important aspect of taking on China has been our focussed economic revival and the impetus to turn India into a global manufacturing hub. Our defence exports have gone up 23 times since 2014, giving an apt indication of the gigantic increase in defence production. A whopping 98 per cent of mobile phones sold in India today are assembled within the country. With all attempts underway to make India a semi-conductor manufacturing hub in the years to go, India holds infinite possibilities in the manufacturing of electronics and IT. India’s foray into a global manufacturing hub comes at the expense of China losing its pie. China is already experiencing the effects of this. Thus, through a comprehensive plan Prime Minister Modi has neatly combated the challenge from China, something Sardar Patel would have been extremely proud of. Sardar Patel’s annexation of Hyderabad The other front where Sardar Patel led by example, undeterred by Nehru’s ideas, was the annexation of Hyderabad. Immediately upon our attaining independence, Patel was given the herculean task of integrating 565 kingdoms with India. One year down the line, he had successfully integrated 562 of them. Of the three remaining ones, Hyderabad posed the biggest threat. Nawab Mir Osman Ali Khan, the king of Hyderabad, was in two minds about whether to align with Pakistan or remain an independent state. However, he was virtually crippled under the dominating influence of Qasim Rizvi, the notorious founder of the armed Muslim militia called the ‘Razakars’. Rizvi played a key, albeit destructive role that eventually resulted in Operation Polo: the “police action” of the Indian Army to capture Hyderabad as ordered by Sardar Patel. Exasperated by the ‘Razakars’ wily threats, Sardar Patel decided to confront them head-on, fully aware of the dangers of a land-locked hostile anti-Hindu territory within the heart of India. A frenetic five days, starting on 13 September 1948 and culminating in the evening of 17 September, saw the princely state of Hyderabad finally joining the Indian Union. As an aside if one were to examine the brutality unleashed by ‘Razakars’ in the two decades preceding Independence upon the non-Muslim population of the region, it would not be incorrect to call them the Hamas of that era. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s own family has been a victim of Razakar’s terror, though his politics compels him to go extra soft on contemporary Jihadi elements. Sardar Patel showed that India need not necessarily wax eloquent about its non-violent ideals, especially when radical groups pose a direct threat to the country’s future. In the last nine years, all of Prime Minister Modi’s firm decisions where he has directly combated the radical groups threatening India head-on are a tribute to Sardar Patel – the great unifier. In 2019, the Modi government took the historic decision of abrogating Article 370 – a quintessential step to arrest Pakistan-sponsored militancy. In September 2022, the government banned terror outfit PFI. The Modi government has waged an unprecedented war on narco-terrorism, paving the way for peace and prosperity of our northeastern states. More importantly, India has decimated Pakistan’s clout globally through aggressive diplomatic manoeuvres that included getting them into the FATF grey list. India’s firm stand against Canada’s support towards Khalistani groups sets a new precedent in pre-empting terrorism. Moreover, India’s unequivocal condemnation of Hamas attacks on Israel as an act of terror is a refreshing change from the pretentious Nehruvian secularism hangover. It would not be wrong to say that 73 years after Sardar Patel’s death, Prime Minister Modi’s government has truly honoured his legacy with a series of formidable measures to enhance our national security. The writer is a best-selling author and the National Spokesperson of BJP. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.